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The people who make up the membership of the Northern Ireland Daffodil Group come literally from all walks of life and from countries as diverse as Latvia, Germany, Australia, Sweden, England, The U.S.A., New Zealand, Scotland and Holland. Our members have a shared enthusiasm for all things involving growing, hybridising, showing or even just appreciating flowers from the genus Narcissus. The Rules of the Group explain in formal terms the objects of the group and the following paragraphs explain a little of the history behind the formation and establishment of the Northern Ireland Daffodil Group as it exists today.
Initially we need to go back to a meeting which took place on Tuesday, 22nd. July, 1969 involving the eight leading Northern Ireland based daffodil breeders. This meeting itself took place as the result of a paper presented by Mr. C.J.W. Nixon who was then the Chief Horticultural Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture in which he suggested starting daffodil trials in N.I. At this meeting it was decided that a Steering Committee would try to locate a suitable venue to hold daffodil trials and to this end some years were spent examining several proposed sites none of which for various reasons proved suitable. However at around this time the grounds of the New University of Ulster were being developed and this site appeared ideal for a trials ground. Eventually it was decided that part of the grounds at the University should be known as The Guy Wilson Memorial Garden in memory of a renowned N.I. daffodil breeder and the trials ground idea was shelved and a beautiful memorial garden was laid out much as it is today.
From the meetings and work of The Steering Committee there had developed a cohesive structure among the local daffodil breeders and from this the idea formed that a centralised planning group could sort out the duplication of show dates chosen by the various Garden Societies where competitive daffodil classes were offered. The need for a ‘Championship of Ireland’ was also apparent and so the Steering Committee took on these tasks until eventually it evolved into The Northern Ireland Daffodil Group largely as it exists today. The first meeting of the newly formed group took place on Sunday 11th January 1976 where a committee was formed to draw up the rules for the group. The NIDG still serves the coordinating function in relation to show dates and still organises championship classes for both Professional daffodil breeders and Amateur exhibitors. In the intervening years since it’s inception the NIDG has grown in size to over one hundred members and has co- hosted three World Daffodil Conventions in 1979, 1998 and 2008. Members of the group regularly exhibit with success in RHS shows in England and farther afield in America as well as developing new and beautiful varieties of daffodil.
During the ’Non Show Season’ the group holds monthly meetings with guest speakers and speakers from within the group, an annual bulb auction is held during the October meeting. All these meetings are held in ‘The Balance House’ outside Lisburn. A yearly magazine is published with show results and articles of interest to daffodil growers and indeed to gardeners in general. The NIDG cooperates with The Belfast Parks in organising the Belfast Spring Show in Malone House on the Barnetts Demesne where ‘The Open Championship of Ireland’ is staged and where there is keen competition for other NIDG trophies and awards. The group also rotate two awards around local garden society shows, namely ‘The Irish Amateur Championship’ and ‘The Silver Thread Award’ which is also restricted to amateur growers.
This is a very truncated history of the NIDG an organisation that is totally focused around appreciating, growing, developing, promoting and exhibiting daffodils, that traditional and wonderful harbinger of spring.
Initially we need to go back to a meeting which took place on Tuesday, 22nd. July, 1969 involving the eight leading Northern Ireland based daffodil breeders. This meeting itself took place as the result of a paper presented by Mr. C.J.W. Nixon who was then the Chief Horticultural Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture in which he suggested starting daffodil trials in N.I. At this meeting it was decided that a Steering Committee would try to locate a suitable venue to hold daffodil trials and to this end some years were spent examining several proposed sites none of which for various reasons proved suitable. However at around this time the grounds of the New University of Ulster were being developed and this site appeared ideal for a trials ground. Eventually it was decided that part of the grounds at the University should be known as The Guy Wilson Memorial Garden in memory of a renowned N.I. daffodil breeder and the trials ground idea was shelved and a beautiful memorial garden was laid out much as it is today.
From the meetings and work of The Steering Committee there had developed a cohesive structure among the local daffodil breeders and from this the idea formed that a centralised planning group could sort out the duplication of show dates chosen by the various Garden Societies where competitive daffodil classes were offered. The need for a ‘Championship of Ireland’ was also apparent and so the Steering Committee took on these tasks until eventually it evolved into The Northern Ireland Daffodil Group largely as it exists today. The first meeting of the newly formed group took place on Sunday 11th January 1976 where a committee was formed to draw up the rules for the group. The NIDG still serves the coordinating function in relation to show dates and still organises championship classes for both Professional daffodil breeders and Amateur exhibitors. In the intervening years since it’s inception the NIDG has grown in size to over one hundred members and has co- hosted three World Daffodil Conventions in 1979, 1998 and 2008. Members of the group regularly exhibit with success in RHS shows in England and farther afield in America as well as developing new and beautiful varieties of daffodil.
During the ’Non Show Season’ the group holds monthly meetings with guest speakers and speakers from within the group, an annual bulb auction is held during the October meeting. All these meetings are held in ‘The Balance House’ outside Lisburn. A yearly magazine is published with show results and articles of interest to daffodil growers and indeed to gardeners in general. The NIDG cooperates with The Belfast Parks in organising the Belfast Spring Show in Malone House on the Barnetts Demesne where ‘The Open Championship of Ireland’ is staged and where there is keen competition for other NIDG trophies and awards. The group also rotate two awards around local garden society shows, namely ‘The Irish Amateur Championship’ and ‘The Silver Thread Award’ which is also restricted to amateur growers.
This is a very truncated history of the NIDG an organisation that is totally focused around appreciating, growing, developing, promoting and exhibiting daffodils, that traditional and wonderful harbinger of spring.
